Sunday, December 8, 2013

*The Unspeakable Gift*

Every once in a while when Paul was writing his letters, his heart would be filled to overflowing with thankfulness to God, and he would write down a succinct phrase to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ whom he loved.  In II Corinthians 9:15, Paul wrote one of these phrases as the Holy Ghost moved him - Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.  The Gift of Heaven came wrapped in very plain paper so very few people would choose Him - He came wrapped in the flesh of a Jewish peasant.  Paul could not describe the indescribable Savior.  Christ Jesus is God's unspeakable Gift to every one of us sinners.  Have you ever received God's Gift to you, His own Son?

God loved you with an everlasting love on Calvary's Cross. The love of Christ constraineth us. *John 3:16* He SO loved us. Payment is for the Law, but under the Gospel everything is a free gift. God gives us Jesus, He gives us eternal life, free grace, eternal glory, unmerited love, everything. Moved by adoring love alone we give ourselves back to God and His people. The sun in the sky gives light and heat, and God gives mercy and peace to sinners. God gives to us, we thank Him, we give to others, and then they thank God for the kindness He has inspired in us. We are only empty cups that are filled at the everlasting Spring, from us the thirsty drink, but they praise the Fountain where we are filled.

The human mind cannot estimate the Gift of God. You cannot comprehend the value of God's own dear Son. His love is inconceivable, infinite, and unspeakable. Christ Jesus Himself is the unspeakable Gift. *II Corinthians 9:15* Most preachers say far too little about Christ today in their sermons. You cannot extol Him too highly. God commended His love to sinful man through the bloody death of His sinless Son. In the death of His Son, God declared His bleeding love to guilty men, and His hatred to Sin.  Jesus gave His life's Precious Blood on Calvary's Cross especially for you.

The Cross is a hospital for sick sinners, the Cross reveals man's evil, but provides The Remedy for it. Sinners are spared because Jesus died. We freely proclaim Christ's salvation to bankrupt sinners - Christ's great redemption, His matchless Propitiation. The wise man lays the whole stress of his salvation on Christ alone.

You cannot magnify the Lord Jesus too highly. He is the sinner's Friend, the mighty Savior, the gracious Pardoner. He bore the sins of the whole world, He was numbered with the transgressors. God made Him to be Sin for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Christ. Jesus condescended to earth in divine Love taking our place, He stood in the sinner's place, that we might stand in His place, and be accepted in the Beloved. We are never weary of this divine Truth, it fills us with consolation and hope.

This is the sublime truth - The Substitution of the Incarnate God for us. His love for guilty sinners is unfathomable. Jesus Christ is not only the Father's Son, but He is God Himself in the flesh. Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." God gave up His only begotten, well-beloved Son, it pained His heart, the Cross cost God everything. God is grieved by my sins, He can feel my infirmities and sorrow. He is a living God, a caring God, a feeling God. Christ Jesus is the Unspeakable Gift.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He became a Jewish man, so He could become man's Substitute. God's infinite love was put on display at Calvary. How wide, how high, how deep, how broad, was the gift of God to the sons of man. God's Son was despised and spit upon that day, He was maltreated and murdered by sinners. The Incarnate God had all of human sin imputed to Him, the entire world's transgressions were laid upon Him. Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Sin was a horror to His perfect pure spirit. He was covered in a bloody sweat in Gethsemane. Up on the Cross, the iron rod of God's divine wrath was bruising and pounding the innocent soul of the Son of God.

The blood of God flowed from Jesus' veins on Calvary's Cross. God was bereaved of His dear Son. Sinful ingratitude stung His heart, evil malice bit Him. The pangs tore His heart, His loss and grief is inexpressible. Jesus was bound like a felon, accused like a criminal, mocked as a impostor, scourged as a transgressor, rejected as a vile wretch, and crucified as worthy of death. He was nailed to the Cross like a thief, He bore the agony of all our sins. It pleased JEHOVAH God to bruise Christ, He put Him to grief. He was made to be Sin for us. Jesus descended from heaven's majesty to Bethlehem's manger, from the throne of JEHOVAH to the arms of Mary. He stooped down from Heaven's peace to endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself, shameful contempt was poured upon Him. The Resurrection and the Life died for you. The Perfect One bore our sins for us.

Christ's Precious Blood was shed to deliver us from Hell itself - that hopeless place where the Gospel is never heard, where they rest not day nor night, where the voice of mercy can never enter. The hopeless cry in Hell is, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still." The greatest blessing we enjoy is the free forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's Grace. We are washed in God's own Blood, clothed in the Righteousness of God's own Son. We are adopted into the eternal family of God, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, all the covenant blessings. All things are yours, the world, life, death, things present, things to come, all are yours, ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

God spared not His own Son, He gave Jesus to us and also has freely given us all things through Him. The gift of Christ baffles the carnal mind, and dumbfounds human intellect. At Calvary there is boundless mercy, unutterable mercy, divine Love. Tongues of flesh can never fully declare the wondrous love of Christ Jesus. The sense of forgiven sins through the Atoning Sacrifice will guide you in your daily life. Heaven cannot match Jesus, and no one on earth can describe Him. Nothing else can content a man's conscience, and nothing else can Satisfy God's justice and vengeance on Sin, but Jesus' perfect Blood Atonement.

God has given you Jesus Christ, now give Him yourself. Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price, so glorify God now in your spirit and in your body. Present your body a living sacrifice daily. Bless God for your creation, your reasoning, your continued life, the movement of your limbs, your sleep through the night, how you enjoy good health, to be out of the hospital, out of prison, and out of hell. Glorify God for all these mercies. But most of all thank Him for His unspeakable Gift - Christ Jesus the Lord. Show forth His praises, but actions in private, speak louder than words in public.

Give yourself away to the Lord Jesus Himself every day (Romans 12:1-3). Don't just talk about it, really do it, live for Him who died for you. Give your substance to God, give freely and cheerfully. Break all your alabaster boxes joyfully for His dear sake. This is not to purchase merit with God, but is a love token and gratitude to His grace. Submit in gracious joy to His divine will. Always give God thanks and Christ glory. Salvation is all of grace from beginning to end. Salvation is altogether a Gift, it is not of works at all, it is not of human merit, the forgiveness of sins is only of God's grace, and grace alone. Christ is All - He is the Gift of God. Birds excite each other to sing in the morning dawn, we should do the same concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Lead and encourage others to praise and serve the Lord. Eagerly seek out those that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and tell out His Good News to them. Let this be the motto of your life - Thanks be unto God for His Unspeakable Gift - *II Corinthians 9:15*.

Believe, believe, simply believe on Jesus' blood and name. Be very diligent readers and searchers and doers of the holy Scriptures - the AV1611. Think much about Christ and His Blood Atonement. The first and main thing is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Make diligent examination of Jesus' character and life, death, and resurrection. Sit at the foot of the Cross, view the Son of God bleeding and dying for sinful men. See your sin crucifying the Savior, let His Blood wash your sins away.

Christ is the Son of God, think of the merits of the Incarnate God bearing human guilt. His Atoning Sacrifice is so great. Know, hear, read, and believe more and more about Christ Himself. Receive Him personally into your inward parts. It is Christ Himself that you need, take Him, believe Him now, trust Him, not yourself, even now, and you are saved. Stick with the Scriptures, rely upon the truth alone. Truth alone can work results that are true. Keep on teaching and preaching Jesus Christ all long as you have breath. Cheerfully proclaim the Gospel truth about the bleeding, dying, risen, exalted, coming Savior. Christ Jesus is the Unspeakable Gift *II Corinthians 9:15*.